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Luca Parmitano OMRI | |
|---|---|
_(cropped)_2.jpg) Parmitano at theExpedition 60press conference in July 2019 | |
| Born | (1976-09-27)27 September 1976 (age 49) |
| Status | Active |
| Occupation(s) | Pilot,Italian Air Force |
| Space career | |
| ESA astronaut | |
Previous occupation | Test Pilot |
| Rank | Colonel |
Time in space | 366 days 23 hours 01 minute |
| Selection | 2009 ESA Group |
TotalEVAs | 6[1] |
Total EVA time | 33 hours, 09 minutes[1] |
| Missions | Soyuz TMA-09M (Expedition 36/37),Soyuz MS-13 (Expedition 60/61) |
Mission insignia |     |
| Website | lucaparmitano |
Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 inPaternò,Sicily) is an Italianastronaut in theEuropean Astronaut Corps for theEuropean Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also acolonel andtest pilot for theItalian Air Force.[2] He is the first Italian (and the third European) to command the International Space Station (ISS) during Expedition 61.[3]
Parmitano considersCatania his hometown. He is divorced and has two daughters with his ex-wife. He is an active scuba diver and enjoys snowboarding, skydiving, weight training and swimming. Other interests include reading and listening to and playing music.
Parmitano graduated from theLiceo Scientifico Statale "Galileo Galilei" in Catania, Italy, in 1995. Parmitano spent a year (1993) as an exchange student at Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo, California in the United States withAFS Intercultural Programs.
In 1999, he completed a master's degree in political sciences at theUniversity of Naples Federico II, Italy, with a thesis on international law. In 2000, he graduated with Sparviero IV academic course, from the ItalianAccademia Aeronautica, inPozzuoli, Italy.
Parmitano completed basic training with the U.S. Air Force at theEuro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program atSheppard Air Force Base in Texas in the United States in 2001. He completed the JCO/CAS course with theUnited States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) inSembach, Germany, in 2002.
In 2003, he qualified asElectronic Warfare Officer at theReparto Supporto Tecnico Operativo Guerra Elettronica [it] (ReSTOGE) inPratica di Mare, Italy. He completed the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) inFlorennes, Belgium, in 2005.
In July 2009, Parmitano received a master's degree in experimentalflight test engineering at theInstitut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE), inToulouse, France, as part of the test pilot formation atEPNER, the French test pilot school inIstres.
In 2007 Parmitano was awarded theMedaglia d'Argento al Valore Aeronautico (Silver Medal of Aeronautic Valor) by thePresident of the Italian Republic after safely landing hisAMX in an emergency due to a bird strike.[4]
Asteroid37627 Lucaparmitano is named after him.[5]
Parmitano is aColonel in theItalian Air Force and anastronaut of theEuropean Space Agency. He has logged more than 2000 hours flying time, is qualified on more than 20 types of military aircraft (bothfixed-wing androtary-wing) and has flown over 40 types of aircraft.
Following completion of undergraduate pilot training in 2001, Parmitano flew theAMX aircraft with the 13th Squadron, 32nd Wing inAmendola, Italy, from 2001 to 2007. During that time, he obtained all the qualifications on that aircraft, including Combat Ready, Four Ship Leader, and Mission Commander/Package Leader.
Within the 13th Squadron, he served as Chief of Training Section and Commander of the 76th Flight. He was also the 32nd Wing Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO).
In 2007, he was selected by the Italian Air Force to become atest pilot and qualified as Experimental Test Pilot atEPNER, the French test pilot school inIstres.
In May 2009, Parmitano was selected as an ESA astronaut as part of the 2009 class.
In 2014, he became a "cavenaut" serving inESA CAVES[6] training of theEuropean Space Agency alongsideScott Tingle,Alexander Mirsurkin,Sergey Kud-Sverchkov andMatthias Maurer.[7]
In July 2015, Parmitano became anaquanaut when he served as commander of theNEEMO 20 crew.[8]
In 2016, Parmitano took part in the firstESA PANGAEA mission, alongsideMatthias Maurer andPedro Duque.
In May 2017, Parmitano took part in theCAVES eXpedition One,[9] carried out in the extreme environments of some hot caves in Sicily.
In February 2011, he was assigned as a flight engineer toExpedition 36/37 (a long-duration mission to the International Space Station), which launched aboardSoyuz TMA-09M on 28 May 2013 and arrived at the ISS on 29 May. His mission is calledVolare, which means "to fly" in Italian[10] and is reminiscent of avery famous song by the Italian singerDomenico Modugno.
In May 2013 Parmitano partnered with his 15-year-oldmenteeAbigail Harrison to have her serve as his Earth liaison during his mission on Expedition 36 and Expedition 37. Harrison shared Parmitano's experience of living in space on the International Space Station with her online community on social media and her blog, where she is known as "Astronaut Abby".[11]
On 9 July 2013, he became the first Italian to take part in a spacewalk as he andChris Cassidy conducted anEVA out of the ISS'quest airlock to install power cables, retrievematerial research samples (MISSE-8) and accomplish a number of maintenance tasks. During the EVA, Parmitano also got to ride on the ISS'Mobile Servicing System for the installation of a couple of radiator grapple bars previously flown up onSpaceX'CRS-2 mission. The EVA was part of preparations for the newRussian multipurpose module planned to replace thePirs docking compartment by the end of 2013.[12] In 2013,AOL'sBermanBraun listed hisspace selfie taken during this spacewalk as one of the 50 best space photos of the year.[13]
His secondEVA on 16 July 2013 was terminated after only 1 hour and 32 minutes, when the helmet of hisExtravehicular Mobility Unit suit started filling with water.[14][15] Water in his helmet posed the danger of drowning and made his return to the airlock even more difficult, as orbital sunset had occurred just before he started to return.[16] Engineers found that contamination had clogged one of the suit's filters, causing water from the suit's cooling system to back up.[17] On 15 January 2016, astronautTimothy Kopra experienced a water leak in his spacesuit.[18] Parmitano returned to Earth on 11 November 2013 aboardSoyuz TMA-09M.
_Luca_Parmitano_carries_the_new_thermal_pump_system.jpg)
In May 2018 ESA announced that Parmitano would return to the space station on board theSoyuz MS-13 mission, to serve as Flight Engineer onExpedition 60 and Commander onExpedition 61.[19] Parmitano launched on 20 July 2019 and arrived at the International Space Station on the same day.[20] He became the first DJ in space on 13 August 2019, when he played a set of electronic music from the ISS for a music festival audience inIbiza.[21] On 15 November he ventured outside the ISS for the first time since his ill-fated spacewalk in 2013, on the first of at least four spacewalks to repair theAlpha Magnetic Spectrometer.[22] Parmitano conducted the spacewalks to repair AMS together with NASA astronautAndrew Morgan. Both were assisted by NASA astronautsChristina Koch andJessica Meir who operated theCanadarm2 robotic arm from inside the Station. The spacewalks were described as the "most challenging sinceHubble repairs". It was the first time astronauts cut and reconnect cooling lines in orbit.[23] The repair of AMS was completed after four spacewalks. In the last spacewalk Parmitano found a leak in one of AMS's cooling lines. The leak was fixed during the spacewalk.[24][25]
Expedition 61 ended with the landing of Soyuz MS-13 on 6 February 2020. Aboard were Parmitano,Aleksandr Skvortsov, andChristina Koch.
| Preceded by | ISS Commander (Expedition 61) 3 October 2019 to 6 February 2020 | Succeeded by |
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